User:NocturneNoir/Sandbox/Chou Wen-chung

Chou Wen-chung (surname Chou; born June 28, 1923 in Yantai, Shandong, China) is a Chinese American composer of contemporary classical music.

Life
On July 28, 1923, Chou Wen-chung was born in Yantai, Shandong, China. He began musical training at an early age, first studying violin before learning the erhu, a Chinese two-string fiddle during his time in Nanjing. There, he also dabbled with the harmonica, mandolin, xiao, a Chinese vertical end-blown flute. In 1937, Chou moved with his family to Shanghai due to the Sino-Japanese War, where he took violin and theory lessons. After graduating high school in 1941, Chou enrolled at the Shanghai Music School before his father convinced him to study architecture at St. John's University over making a profession out of music. After the United States pulled out of China on November 14, 1941, Chou's family separated and Chou escaped south to Guilin. There, he briefly attended Guanxi University before fleeing again to Chungqing, where he attended the National Chungqing Unversity, graduating in 1945 with a BS in civil engineering.

In August 1946, Chou was admitted to Yale University and given a five-year architecture scholarship, prompting him to travel to the US. Unable to change his major to music, Chou left the school and traveled to Boston to live with his brother. In Boston, he auditioned for and was accepted to the New England Conservatory, where he majored in composition and viola. There, he studied composition with Nicholas Slonimsky and briefly attempted to become a student of Paul Hindemith. In 1949, he moved to New York with his brother.